Melissa chewed on a stuffed pita she bought from one of the countless street vendors as she thought about her new teams composition. If she took everyone on the list, then there would be her as a ranged damage dealer, joined by their Crossbowman and Lisa theoretically. There would be 3 frontliners, Vera, Rick and Gloria, although she wasn’t sure what class Gloria actually had. Jacob and Mercucio would be roaming damage dealers she could use as personal protection team for herself and the ranged core or send them around to flank. Overall there were 2 full melees, 2 scouts, 2 ranged damage dealers and the 2 weird classes that would probably still fit into that composition. She suspected Chris had thought long and hard about her new team and she was incredibly grateful to him to give him recommendations for a solid group.
The pita bread was filled to the brim with some very spicy meat that was probably venison and it was delicious. There were almost no domesticated animals in Town so there was rarely any cheese or milk either, but they did grow spices of all kinds. Without those spices the cuisine down here would have been very rustic. There was also grain and rice in abundance. Melissa remembered going to one of the green mage greenhouses during her orientation in her first week. They recruited mages as a farm system like in in the major leagues, just not ballplayers but mages with a knack for “green magic” which was a catchall phrase for all kinds of plant based spellcraft. Getting a job in the greenhouse would be an automatic ticket to Ambition if they had enough talent or perseverance for plant based spells. There were apparently plenty of spells to help plants grow that were extremely easy to master. But she never really had any interest in that at all. She had always wanted to climb the tower, not settle down. At least not yet and now she had a goal to chase. She just needed some help and hopefully she would find some tonight.
The Blue Hare was halfway down the main road in a side street, if the directions she had gotten were true. Melissa had never been in that particular tavern, or most taverns to be honest, it was just not her world. She had always trained a lot and when she was not stuck in the library or the shooting range, she had hung out with her team, especially Thorgen. While walking down the main road she remembered their little dates in the different Cafes and Restaurants, at first it was just Thorgen teaching her and so they went to sit and talk in a nice Cafe. But as their relationship grew, their little outings started to be less for learning purposes and more so she could spend time with Thorgen. Eventually they became real dates. Until the day he died they had kept up their little weekly date and Melissa had loved it so much. Now she missed it more than she could bear and so she walked quickly past the shops she had loved to visit with him and into the narrow side street.
Melissa tried to think of something else, but everything reminded her of him and she was close to tears when she reached an unassuming Corner Building tucked in behind a supply store. A sign with a comically large and blue Hare marked the building as the Tavern and there were a few people outside, talking and drinking in the fading light of an early spring. It was still cold and there were braziers and lamps everywhere already burning against the chill.
Melissa entered the tavern through a big oak door and found herself in the common room. She took a quick look around, seeing if she knew anyone, but that was highly unlikely. There were plenty of tables with chairs, a long dark wood bar and a fire was burning merrily in a stone fireplace. Overall the Blue Hare had a cozy vibe to it, even though it was already fairly packed this early in the evening and the noise in the room hit her like a punch to the face. It was a successful business that was for sure. Beer and spirits were flowing out of taps and bottles and pretty barmaids brought drinks to the tables. It was a bit too full for Melissa’s tastes and it reminded her a bit of the nightclubs she had been to in her early twenties. The only thing missing was the booming techno music. Instead this Tavern had, in good tradition with taverns in the tower, a group of musicians with drums and string instruments. Guitars and drums were fairly common in the tower, introduced a long time ago by people from her world and they were even playing a live version of Highway to Hell, which was really suffering from the lack of electric guitars. But at least it was music she knew and that was some comfort to her.
Melissa ignored the looks she got and went to the bar. She did not know how any of the people she was looking for looked like, so her only real choice was to ask the bartenders or the Taverns master.
“Excuse me.” she called out and one of the two bartenders came over.
“What can I get you?”
“I am looking for some people, Vera, a warrior, you know her?”
The bartender paused and then nodded.“Yeah, she should be in the far corner, over there.” he pointed and Melissa thanked him and flipped the man a shard. She was almost broke, but she had gotten some manastones as a stipend of some sort for just being a mage. It was unfair that only mages got this stipend, but Melissa was not complaining. She would be out of coin entirely otherwise. There were no banks to store manastones or shards in the Town, only up in Ambition were they common and Melissa did not trust the lock on her room to keep anything but her clothes safe.
Melissa walked through the crowded tavern past the band and into the far corner of the room that was a little quieter and people were talking in less raised voices. The music was a bit louder though as they were relatively close to the small stage. Melissa let her gaze wander over the people sitting in the corner until she stopped at a tall blonde woman wearing plate armor. Why the woman wore her full battle regalia in a tavern she did not know, but at least she had her helmet off and was sipping on a mug. She sat alone and it did not look like she was waiting on anyone. Melissa hesitated for a moment and then stepped up to her table.
“Excuse me, are you Vera?”
The woman looked up from her mug and studied Melissa with a frown.
“I am, what do you want?”
“Hi, my name is Melissa, I am a mage, could we sit and talk for a minute?” Melissa said with a smile.
Vera raised her eyebrows and then gestured for her to sit.
“Thank you!” Melissa sat down and studied the woman for a long moment. Vera was exceptionally tall for a woman at more than 6’5, if she guessed right with the woman sitting. But that was probably part of the “warrior bonus” as people called it. It was not uncommon for people to grow and bulk up as they leveled in the melee frontline classes and sometimes people actually grew a few inches just from getting a new class. Vera’s golden hair was put up in a knot towards the back of her head giving her a bit of a samurai vibe, if she had not been as white as milk and actually kind of cute. She did look strong and she had her jaw set and was glaring a bit at Melissa with her green eyes that Melissa almost envied. Without armor and in a dress she might have drawn looks from all of the men in the tavern, so maybe that was why she wore her armor to drink. Melissa took a deep breath and gave Vera another smile.
“So, as you probably have guessed I am a group leader. Well technically I am. Maybe you have heard of me.”
“Can’t say that I have.” Vera said and took another sip out of her mug.
“My team was….wiped a few weeks back by the Cultivator. He...he killed everyone, but missed me because my throat was cut and he did not...check on me.” Melissa said and it was still hard to talk about it. She had a bit of a tan and so the white line on her throat stood out as she tilted her head and showed Vera. The woman looked surprised if not shocked and for a moment they both said nothing.
“I am sorry.” Vera said eventually after clearing her throat.
“Thanks, it still hurts, but...its better now.” she lied and paused for a moment before getting back on track.
“I am basically without team at the moment and I want to rebuild it. I am friends with Chris, er… Instructor Balefield, who gave me your name and told me a bit of your story. “
Melissa could see Vera tense, so she raised her hands and gave her a reassuring smile.
“He had only praises for you and I am not someone who believes you were at fault at all for what happened with your old group. In fact I hate what happened to you. It is a bit different for me because I am a mage, but I know what kind of sexist creeps run around in the tower. I have had run ins with that kind of man plenty of times.”
Vera relaxed visibly, but looked still uncomfortable. She took a long sip form her mug and mumbled into her drink:
“Of course you have.”
Melissa pretended not to hear that and instead went into a full blown sales pitch.
“I know you have trouble finding a permanent group. Well, I need to form a new group and rebuild it to a force that can slaughter the Cultivator. There are few warriors as good as you in the Town of Beginnings. Most who could already went up to Ambition, for good reason. You are my first pick for a warrior and from what I heard from Instructor Balefield you are hardworking, tough and strong. You have been in the tower longer than I have and I have no problem if you tell me your opinion or advice. In fact I have relied on the advice of my second for most of my career as a group leader. So in my group your voice will be heard and I can promise you, anyone who even looks at you funny will get their ass kicked out of my group faster than they can spell their names. There will be no sexual harassment under my watch, that I can swear to you!”
Melissa took a breath and Vera looked a bit stunned, but then started to chuckle. Melissa smiled and thought she had her until the chuckle turned into a full belly laugh and she felt suddenly embarrassed.
“What? What did I say?”
“Nothing. Sorry.” Vera said still chuckling.
“You just remind me a lot of the guys asking me out for a drink all the time. Desperate to get through their pitch as if that would help their case at all.”
Melissa’s spirits fell. That was a bad association right?
“I...I did not mean to be pushy or anything.” she began, but Vera held up her hand.
“Its alright. You are right, I need a group, badly. I am just sitting on my ass day after day hoping things will change, but I am stuck down here. I don’t want to settle down. Now if you were a guy I would still say no, but...you are not, so I’ll give you a chance.”
“So you will join my team?”
“I will give your team a try. I want to see what you can do with my own eyes and if I am satisfied with your spells and the skills of the rest of the team, then we can go for a simple hunt together, so I can see how you lead. If that checks out and if the rest of your team does not rub me the wrong way. Then and only then I will decide if I want to join your team.”
“That is fair, I suppose. I would have done that either way to test out you and other potential teammates.”
Vera nodded satisfied and Melissa held out her hand.
“So, are you in with those stipulations?”
Vera smiled and shook her hand. She had a beautiful smiled, but also a very firm grip and still wore iron gauntlets so that it was more than a little painful when Vera squeezed Melissa’s hand.
“I am in.” Vera said and Melissa tried not to wince when the handshake stopped.
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
“So, who else is in the team and who are you looking to recruit?”
“Before we get to that, first and foremost you have to understand that our team has a goal besides climbing the tower. It is to kill the Cultivator and avenge my fallen team. Now you don’t have an emotional attachment to that, right?”
Vera turned her head to the side and then shook her head. “But to me…” Melissa paused and for a moment she could not speak and was overwhelmed by grief, before she got herself back under control and managed to speak with balled fists. It still hurt so much to say it.
“He killed everyone I have ever loved in the tower. My team was everything to me…” Melissa held back tears and steeled herself before she continued with much more wrath behind her words than she wanted to.
“I will kill that bastard, even if it is the last thing I do. I know that will most likely put you in harms way and you need to understand that and be okay with that.”
Vera studied her for a long moment and then nodded.
“I heard about him, murderous bastard yeah? I have no problems taking out the trash, even if its dangerous.”
Melissa was really relieved to hear that. She had feared Vera would not understand or would balk at the idea of hunting down someone. Some people did not like to kill people, no matter what they have done. Melissa had been one of those before she came to the tower. But that had changed a long time ago for her.
“Good, thank you.” Vera hesitated for a long moment and then asked.
“You were in love with one of your teammates right?”
Melissa looked down and studied the stained table for a long moment before she nodded.
“Thorgen, my second in command.”
“I am so sorry. I have not found someone to love since coming to the tower, but I know how it feels to lose someone.” She put her big gauntleted hand on hers and gave her a soft squeeze.
“Thanks.” For a long moment both women did not say anything, but then Melissa straightened and sighed. She continued like nothing happened, because what else could she do? This was no time for sorrow.
“I have a newbie ranger in my team so far besides you. She was kidnapped by the cultivator and he used her as bait to lure my team in.”
“Bastard.” Vera growled.
“Lisa is new, but she has talent and she works hard, but yeah she won’t be very impressive.”
“That is fine, so who else but me are you looking at?”
“During the manhunt one of the mages died. He was taken as a human shield by the cultivator. His team splintered afterwards.”
“Yeah okay, the more you tell me about this Cultivator the less I like him.”
“Some of that team have not found another team because the other teams that hunted the Cultivator apparently were the ones who actually killed their group leader in the crossfire. So they have a pretty massive grudge with them and with the Cultivator. In that group is one heavy like you, a ranged damage dealer and two rare classes. One a buff skill heavy and the other one is a debuffer, but without the stats for armor.”
“Sounds like an odd group, but I suppose they will gladly join you since you are going after the cultivator either way.”
“Yes. There is also a thief called Mercucio that Instructor Balefield recommends, actually he recommended all of them.”
“Hmm, I trust Balefield and I know Mercucio actually.”
“Wait you do?”
“Yeah, he hangs out here sometimes. Petty thief, but a good rogue. Was clicked up with the red light district until he wasn’t one day.” Vera shrugged.
“He is kinda in the same shoes as me, after he left the red light district groups, nobody wants to group with him. But he is also a Casanova. So if you can keep him from hitting on anyone in the group then he is alright with me.”
“Huh, well I will certainly try my best and if he does not learn, Lisa has a good scouting skill so we don’t really need him. If he does not behave I’ll kick him out.”
“Good, deal.” Vera said with a smirk and stood up. Melissa was caught flat footed and had to hurry after her as the tall woman walked away from the corner table.
“Hey, where are you going?”
“Gonna ask if someone knows where Mercucio is tonight.”Vera walked over to the band of all people and poked one of the guitar players in the side, which brought the performance to a sudden halt with a yelp from the man.
“What the fuck woman. Oh, Vera, what’s up?”
“You know where Mercucio is?”
“What? That scoundrel? Why?”
“Just need to know, common Travis.”
“Alright, alright, I might have seen him in the double Barrel yesterday, he is sweet on one of the serving girls there, alright?”
“Thanks Travis.”
“Common Band, keep playing!” a drunk man shouted, waving his mug around.
“Give us a second, dammit, we are playing!” Travis said and the band picked up playing some country song Melissa did not know. Vera walked out of the Tavern and Melissa had to power walk to keep up with her.
“You are tight with the musicians, huh?”
“Travis owes me some favors is all.”
“Mhm and that is why none of the band was mad at you for poking one of them. Riiiight.”
“Well, I might have made a point in playing security for a few gigs while I am in town, so nobody fucks with them.”
Melissa chuckled.
“That is actually pretty cool. Mages don’t really work unless they craft runes or enchant stuff or something.”
“Trust me, I wear this armor not just so I am ready when I get mugged, but to have some metal between me and some folk in this town. You don’t want to work in the taverns at least if you don’t want drunk guys hitting on you all night.”
“That seems like a tough job for you, after all that happened.”
“I am fine. I am strong and so I just punch anyone who tries anything. Hasn’t made me any friends, but I can handle it.”
They walked down the main street that was dark now, only lit by a few torches and lamps that left behind patches of darkness. The days had not increased in length by much yet, but it would be noticeably warmer and brighter for longer in a few weeks Melissa had read. It was still cold, very cold and she shivered a bit in her training outfit. They passed by some groups and lonely figures, but since most people where Vessels people rarely attacked each other in the street. The guard would be on them in less than a minute if they tried to do anything on main street.
Guard patrols were visible because they carried a dozen lamps with them and Melissa heard a passing group of guards handle a very drunk sounding woman.
“Let me go, Melissa said I can’t talk to Aurix alone. He is not a nice guy...you...HEY where are you touching?!”
Melissa froze and then stared at the group of guards hauling a young woman past her. She recognized her at the same time as Lisa did.
“Hey, Melissa! Look I got arrested.” she slurred and waved with her manacled hands.
Vera stopped and Melissa felt a headache coming as the guard patrol stopped as well.
“What the hell happened Lisa?” Melissa asked flabbergasted.
“Nothing! I was enjoying myself and then one of these guys here kidnapped me!”
One of the guards frowned and stepped forward to stand in between Melissa and Lisa.
“Stand back. She is under arrest. Please move along.”
“What for? Is it true you kidnapped her?”
“The Town guard does not kidnap anyone, she was drunk and the Innkeeper asked us to remove her, that is it.” The guard explained, but his whole posture was strained and his hand hovered over the pommel of his blade.
“Well you removed her, but what are the irons for? I am her group leader and being drunk is not illegal last time I checked.”
The demeanor of the guard changed and he got his hand off his sword, instead he cleared his throat.
“Being a public menace by being drunk and disorderly.” the guard started to explain, but Lisa cut in.
“HEY, I am not a men...men...menasche!”
“That is not a reason to detain her either. Unless she attacked someone you have no grounds to keep her, release her at once.” she demanded, even though she felt sick, demanding anything from the Town guard. If Melissa had done that with cops in her old world she would have gotten ignored or laughed at, but here in the Tower she was the upper class as a mage and group leader. She actually mattered, because a Vessel would never win a case in court against a mage. Never. And the punishment for a mage “defending” him or herself was also extremely lenient. If she wanted to she could freeze his balls of or burn a few limbs off and get away with it. If she did not kill anyone basically everything was game and the guard knew that just as well as she did.
“I have orders from the Watch Captain and the mayor. Sorry, no can do. Lets go.” the guard said and hurried off, his patrol tightening around Lisa, who protested weakly and stumbled along.
“Hold it right there!” Melissa said and stomach sank. If they were willing to go that far...
“Why would the mayor have any orders for a drunken disorderly. Hey, Stop!”
The patrol tried to move away from her quickly when a big shadow in plate armor stopped in front of the men. Vera blocked their path and stared them down. She was a head taller than all of the men in the group and built like a tank. She had a spear leaned against her shoulder, that Melissa had missed entirely, but both of her hands were on the weapon as she studied the group.
“My group leader has some questions and so do I. What the fuck do you think you are doing with her?”
“Stay back, you can’t interfere with Guard business. If you continue to block our way we will be forced to arrest you.”
“Try me, asshole.”
Melissa stepped next to Vera, her hands glowing with red sparks over her left hand and a flame flickered over her right hand.
“Uncuff her and let her go right now, before I wake up the entire Town with an emergency flare and you can explain your actions to the guild, the residents and the mayor. I don’t give a shit if he ordered you to capture her, you think he will stay by that? He and your captain will throw you under the bus and say you went rogue as soon as anyone hears about this. So please, do us all a favor and let her go, before I really get mad and you end up in prison yourselves.” the flame on top of her hand flared and illuminated the faces of the guards who looked either scared, angry or in the case of their leader both. The man studied her and then Vera warily and he was weighing his options when some of the windows opened in nearby buildings and people stopped to gawk at what was happening. The man hesitated only for a moment and then gave in with a deep frown.
“Release her, but be aware we will fine you for your transgression and I will have to report this to the mayor.”
“Please do so, my name is Melissa, just so you get it right.” she said with as much bravado she could muster. But internally she was screaming and raging. Aurix had not given up on Lisa, he was actually getting more than a bit forceful with his approach and her stomach sank as she imagined what she would have to do to get Lisa out of that predicament.
The patrol released Lisa who had half fallen half asleep while standing and when she got the iron handcuffs of her, she flopped against Melissa like a sack of grain.
“Yaaay, I am free! I don’t….feel so good.” Lisa shuddered and then fell to her knees before she puked. Melissa barely got out of the way before she sullied her shoes. The patrol left quickly and the gawking people dispersed. Soon this section of the main street was growing dark again. Vera stepped up to Melissa and chuckled.
“So, you have problems with Aurix too? And this is the Ranger you said was hard working and had potential?”
“I...its complicated. But Aurix has an eye on her, yes. Lisa never drinks, I don’t know what happened tonight. There there, let it out.” Lisa bucked and puked some more, while Melissa held her and when Lisa was finally done sat down on the cobbles with a sigh.
“I hate being drunk, this sucks.” she complained.
“Listen Vera I am going to bring her home, can you ask Mercucio if you can find him and I’ll try to do the same with the others I want to invite.”
“Sure, I can try.”
“Great, then lets meet tomorrow at training ground three, you know it?”
“Sure, Balefield’s playground. I’ll be there.”
“Awesome, thank you so much Vera, for accepting my invite and for backing me up just now. I really don’t know what Aurix would have done with her, but...you can guess.”
Vera’s face turned dark and she nodded grimly.
“Yeah I got that vibe too from those guys. They were eyeing you a bit too much.”
“It is how it is, the only thing we can do is make sure we are powerful enough to stand up to them.”
Vera hesitantly nodded and waved her goodbyes. Melissa gave Lisa a shoulder as she half carried her very drunk and half asleep friend to her dorm room. Nobody gave them any trouble and none of the vessels in the dorm made a fuss, when she put Lisa to bed.
“Thank you Melissa.” Lisa murmured and Melissa tucked her in and made sure she was laying on her side, before she left the dorm and went back to her own room. Tomorrow she would have to deal with the consequences of her actions and recruit more people. It felt like a gigantic task, but she had no choice. She hated Aurix, hated how men treated women in the Tower, but above all she wanted revenge. And she would do everything she could to get it.